Accessibility Links

Finally, an app for teens their parents will want them to get

Young people can now use social media to help solve each other’s problems. Rachel Carlyle reports

Rachel Carlyle

September 2 2017, 12:01am, The Times

Phoebe Weir, 15DAVID YEO FOR THE TIMES

Some days 15-year-old Phoebe Weir’s anxiety is so crippling she can barely get out of bed. “I lie there with an awful knot in my stomach, knowing I won’t be able to go out,” she says.

Phoebe has had some counselling at school and she has also rung Childline when things have got really bad. Recently help has come from an unlikely quarter: an ingenious new anonymous app where teenagers post their problems and others reply with reassurance and advice.

“I didn’t feel I could tell my friends about my panic attacks and I didn’t want to worry my parents. But this way, within a few hours of posting you get several replies from people who might say, ‘Yes, I have that same thing, here’s…

Want to read more?

Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.